Various devices exist for dispensing wire used to construct fences for enclosing livestock and farmland. These devices are often difficult to use, include complex wire-tensioning systems which make them expensive to manufacture, or are limited to dispensing a single type of wire or a single spool of wire at once. Additionally, these devices are not fully self-contained fencing apparatuses in that they do not provide all the materials and tools necessary to completely install a fence or repair a downed fence. Another disadvantage of these devices includes a need to have pre-installed fence posts to which the dispensed and tensioned fence wire can be attached. To fully construct or repair a line of fence thus requires that at least two trips along the fence line be made. The first trip is necessary to dig fence post holes and place fence posts into the ground, and the second trip is made to dispense, stretch, and attach the fence wire to the fence posts. The inefficient process of making two trips along a long line of fence is especially notable on a large acre ranch or farm and is not highly expedient in installing or repairing fences. Additionally, prior art devices are not capable of assisting in the repair of downed fencing where tools and materials would be necessary to make such a repair, as for example when fence posts are damaged or destroyed and must be replaced to effect the repair. Currently, such repairs necessitate an often lengthy trip back to a supply and tool storage facility to gather the proper tools and materials to effect the repair, as well as acquiring the use of an appropriate vehicle for transporting these tools and materials.
An example of a current fencing device includes that described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,216 to Smith et al. which discloses a drawn support frame with upstanding spindle for coaxially mounting various rolls or spools of fence wire and drag, clamp, and wire installation post assemblies for wire pay-out control, wire tensioning control, and payed-out wire organization respectively. While this device provides for dispensing and tensioning various types of fence wire and numerous spools of fence wire at one time, it is limited to paying out such wire along a line of preset fence posts and does not permit a one-time fence installation along a designated fence route or the repair of a downed fence along a prior installed line of fence. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,900 to Conroy discloses an apparatus for dispensing various spools of fence wire via a draw bar adapted to fit into a receiver hitch of a vehicle, but suffers the same disadvantages of requiring that a preset line of fence posts exist while not permitting a one-time fence installation along a designated fence route or the repair of a downed fence along a prior installed line of fence. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,470 to Leland and U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,521 to Farnsworth are still further examples of devices which disclose wire fencing dispensers and tensioners which suffer the disadvantages described herein above.
Accordingly there exists the current need for an inexpensive, easy to use, fully self-contained apparatus for constructing and repairing fences for enclosing farmland or livestock on a ranch.